$10 million Rosewood Beach plans taking shape in Highland Park

July 23, 2013|By John P. Huston, Chicago Tribune reporter

Park District of Highland Park Director of Planning and Projects Rick Stumpf, right, points out some components of an upcoming Rosewood Beach plan at a July 16 open house. (John P. Huston, Chicago Tribune)

If everything goes as planned, by this time next year more than $10 million will have been spent to renovate Rosewood Beach as part of two simultaneous projects at Highland Park's only public swimming beach.

After years of sometimes acrimonious debate, the project was officially green-lighted earlier this year. Now that the design pencils have been put away, the contracts can be let for bid and ground can be broken.

The most controversial of the two projects is an estimated $4.95 million Park District of Highland Park construction plan aimed at bringing a new vitality to the location, consisting of a boardwalk system, a lifeguard house, concession stand, restroom and "interpretive shelter" multi-purpose building.

While those elements are built, the United States Army Corps of Engineers will be implementing a shoreline and ecosystem restoration project that is estimated to cost between $7.5 million and $9.5 million — 65 percent of which is to be covered by federal funds, with the remaining 35 percent by the Park District of Highland Park. The Army Corps project is included under the federal Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration program.

Based on the completed designs, the costs for both projects have increased from projections a year ago, though the exact price tag won't be determined until the contract bids are received next month.

But officials were jubilant at a recent open house in Highland Park to unveil the Army Corps' final designs, which is comparable to Lake Forest's Forest Park Beach, according to Kirston Buczak, project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Little changed from the Army Corps' design during the feasibility study phase, Buczak said.

"That project was presented at a very conceptual level, so now we've refined the design and done some more analysis and come up with this design, which is slightly different," Buczak said.

When it's done, visitors will notice a larger beach — plans call for 45,000 cubic yards to be added — as well as the removal of four steel walls, called groynes, that extend into the water from the beach, officials said. Three of them will be replaced with submerged versions about 50 feet further into Lake Michigan that will not be visible.

But four "rubble mound" breakwaters will be installed parallel to the coastline about 200 feet from the bluff. The breakwaters, designed to stabilize the beach and more effectively guard against erosion and sand drift, were moved during the project design phase, which resulted in additional cost, Buczak said.

Ecological elements remain the same from what was originally presented to the public, she added, including the removal of non-native plant life, as well as the removal of a concrete weir that is expected to benefit the fish habitat.

Now, a stream through the park's ravine connects to Lake Michigan underneath a concrete culvert, which can prove problematic when the water level isn't high enough, according to Shawna King, and Army Corps ecologist.

"During low flows, (fish are) unable to access it from the lake to actually swim in," King said. "They could maybe swim out, but swimming in would be difficult, so removing the culvert will actually aid them in being able to access the stream."

She said she expects native fish, like White Suckers, to flourish, as well as some types that people might not expect.

"I know there's trout in that stream, so that's probably going to be a big benefit there," King said. "We caught, I believe, three rainbow trout in that area in the stream. That's pretty exciting."

Steve Pemberton, a Highland Park resident who moved to the neighborhood near Rosewood Beach last fall, attended the July 16 unveiling to see what to expect next summer.

"I like to walk down there, so I'm interested in what they're going to be doing, because it's such a nice spot. It's kind of an undiscovered beach," Pemberton said.

He said he's not bothered by the Park District component of the project, which is aimed at increasing the public's usage of the beach.

"I think it's a good plan," Pemberton said. "I think more people will use it if there's changing rooms and more amenities and things like that, so that's a good thing."

Highland Park resident Peggy Laemle said the component she's most looking forward to about the beach improvements will be the much ballyhooed interpretive shelter, meant to be a scenic location for programming and classes.

The 1,900-square-foot multi-use building was the main point of contention for many opponents resisted the project as it worked its way through the public approval process, which took more than a year.

The interpretive shelter — as well as a scenic lake overlook area — were two components of the original design that architects specifically didn't touch when looking for reductions to stave off inflating project costs, officials said recently.